In 1759, Peter Forsskål published a pamphlet, printed by Lars Salvius, calling for civil liberties.

The publication was recalled on the day of its publication and soon after was banned; those who were found to have a copy were liable to a very signficant fine, equivalent to two years salary for a ship's captain.

Nevertheless, the text did circulate and contributed to access to information and the abolition of prior censorship which was established in 1766 by law in Sweden.

Forsskål’s pamphlet is now published for the very first time in an English translation (as well as other languages), together with the original version of the Swedish text, without the censor’s changes.

A list of the location of surviving copies of the first edition of Thoughts on Civil Liberty (Tankar om borgerliga friheten) and a list of modern editions and translations has been compiled by David Shaw. The list can be found here.